When the Holy One Laughs and the Eighteen Traits of the Wise

Let a person guard himself against excessive laughter, idle talk, and frivolity. "Laughter" means nothing but sexual immorality, as it is said (Genesis 39:14, 17): "See, he has brought us a Hebrew man to mock [letzachek] us... he came to me to lie with me." And they said: laughter and lightheadedness accustom a person to immorality. And "laughter" means nothing but idolatry, as it is said (Exodus 32:6): "And they rose up to make sport [letzachek]." And "laughter" means nothing but the shedding of blood, as it is said (2 Samuel 2:14): "Let the young men now arise and play [visachaku] before us." And "laughter" means nothing but scoffing, as it is said (Isaiah 28:14, 22): "And now do not scoff," for they were scoffing at the judgment of Gehinnom, as it is said (Isaiah 28:14-15): "Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you men of scoffing... for you have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have made a treaty." Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel: My children, I am He who sat nine hundred and seventy-four generations before the world was created, and from the day the world was created until that hour I expounded and investigated and refined and tested all the words of the entire Torah. And from the day I created the world and sat upon My throne of glory, a third of the day I read and study, a third of the day I sit and judge judgment for the whole world, and a third of the day I do charity and feed and sustain and provide for the whole world and for the works of My hands that I created in the world; and there is before Me laughter only one hour. And when is there laughter before Me? At the hour when the nations say, Come and let us make war with Him, and say, With how many warriors does He come against us? Let Him come against us with a thousand thousand warriors; with how many horsemen does He come against us? With a thousand thousand horsemen; with how many swords does He come against us? Let Him come against us with a thousand thousand swords. At that hour I laugh, as it is said (Psalms 2:1, 4): "Why do the nations rage... He who sits in heaven laughs." In another place too there is laughter before Him, but it is not actual laughter, as it is said (Exodus 30:34): "And the LORD said to Moses, Take for yourself spices, stacte and onycha and galbanum." And galbanum has a foul smell. But when is there laughter that is not actual laughter? At the hour when the transgressors of Israel seek to swallow up the worthy ones among them, as it is said (Psalms 37:12-13): "The wicked plots against the righteous... " What is written after it? "The LORD laughs at him, for He sees that his day is coming." But we have found in another place that the Holy One, blessed be He, regretted the evil inclination that He created, and says: What benefit have I gained from it, and what have I done that I created it in My world? As it is said (Ecclesiastes 10:11): "If the serpent bites without a charm, there is no advantage to the master of the tongue." At that hour a mouth was opened for the transgressors of Israel to seek mercy, to be received in repentance, and to say before Him: Master of the universe, it is revealed and known before You that the evil inclination provokes us; in Your abundant mercies receive us in complete repentance before You. For whoever increases idle talk and frivolity, they escort him until the hour he enters his eternal home. The Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: My son, why did you not learn from your Father in heaven, who sits upon His throne of glory — a third of the day He reads and studies, a third of the day He judges judgment, and a third of the day He does charity and feeds and sustains and provides for all who come into the world and for all the works of His hands in the world — and there is no laughter before Him but one hour? And if a person says to the Holy One, blessed be He, I was learning Torah from the age of thirteen onward, the Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: What Torah did you do, and what good deeds did you grasp? Did you not engage in idle talk and in matters unfit and unseemly? As it is said (Amos 4:13): "For behold, He who forms the mountains and creates the wind and tells a person what is his talk." From here they said: Two people, one labors in matters of Torah and one labors in worldly matters. He who wishes to labor in worldly matters is granted to labor in worldly matters, and of him the verse says (Job 5:7): "For man is born to labor." To what is the matter comparable? To a waterskin that was filled with water and was poured out and gone; after a while there is nothing in the skin. And he who wishes to labor in matters of Torah is granted to labor in Torah, and of him the verse says (Proverbs 16:26): "The soul of the laborer labors for him, for his mouth presses him." To what is the matter comparable? To the lower threshold that all tread upon, and to the beam that all pass over, and like a tree under whose shade all sit, and like a lamp that gives light to the eyes of the many. Aaron knew within himself that a great thing had come to Israel through him, and he would tie an iron cord around his loins and go around to all the doors of Israel; whoever did not know how to recite the Shema, and likewise whoever did not know how to pray, he would teach to recite the Shema and to pray, and likewise whoever did not know how to enter into the body of the Torah, he would teach him. And not Aaron alone, but every Torah scholar who teaches Torah publicly to Israel for the sake of Heaven and shows no favoritism to rich or poor, but recites Scripture to them all as one and studies Mishnah with them all as one — through this the Holy One, blessed be He, has mercy upon him and grants him wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and discernment, and gives him a portion with the righteous, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of him the verse says (Isaiah 53:11): "From the labor of his soul he shall see, he shall be satisfied; by his knowledge the righteous one, My servant, shall justify the many." From here they said: Let a person always conduct himself by eighteen traits. One: let a person be humble in his home. Two: pious in the academy. Three: shrewd in fear of Heaven. Four: wise in Torah. Five: clever in good deeds. Six: pleasant and accepted by people. Seven: acknowledging the truth. Eight: speaking truth in his heart. Nine: confessing and forsaking. Ten: loving the Omnipresent with complete love, whether He is good to him or bad to him. Eleven: sighing over the honor of the Holy One, blessed be He, and over the honor of Israel all his days. Twelve: yearning and longing and hoping for the honor of Jerusalem and the honor of the Temple and the deliverance that will soon sprout and the ingathering of the exiles. Then he merits the holy spirit in his words, as it is said (Habakkuk 2:3): "For there is yet a vision for the appointed time... if it tarries, wait for it"; and it says (Hosea 12:7): "And you, return to your God; keep lovingkindness and justice, and hope to your God continually." Thirteen: let him be becoming in his coming to the house of study, so that he be beloved above and desired below and accepted in the eyes of people, so that he fill out his days. Fourteen: let a person increase matters of Torah, for you have no greater reward than they. Fifteen: let a person ask and answer in his sitting in the house of study, so that his wisdom increase in his hand. Sixteen: let him guard himself not to come to drowsiness, as it is said (Proverbs 23:21): "And slumber will clothe one in rags," for you have no trait as harsh in the world as one who dozes in the synagogue and the house of study; and not only this, but let him guard himself from much eating and drinking, for through much eating and drinking he comes to drowsiness, as it is said (Deuteronomy 8:12): "Lest you eat and be satisfied." Seventeen: let a person ask about the verse and about the law even though everyone laughs at him, as it is said (Proverbs 30:32): "If you have been vile in exalting yourself" — if you have made yourself base over it, you will be exalted by it. Eighteen: let a person bring himself into the body of the Torah even though he does not know and is not expert in law at all. Do they say to a person, While you ask for mercy that the words of Torah enter your innards, ask for mercy over the transgressions you have committed, that He pardon you for them? And let him afterward be careful not to do what is improper, and through this a person hears and remembers, through the four traits that precede it. And all those eighteen traits have their reward and their punishment beside them. And moreover, whoever increases laughter and idle talk and frivolity brings wrath into the world, and the fruits diminish through him, and many evils come through him, and harsh decrees are renewed, and the young men of Israel are slain, and orphans and widows cry out and are not answered, as it is said (Isaiah 9:16): "Therefore the LORD will not rejoice over its young men, nor have mercy on its orphans and its widows, for everyone is godless and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly." And moreover, of whoever increases laughter and idle talk and frivolity it is written (Hosea 4:2): "Cursing and lying and murder and theft and adultery break out," and it is as if he swore falsely and denied and lied in judgment. And if he was within the family and the members of the family rejoiced in him, in the end he exposes all the members of the family; and if he was within the neighborhood and the members of the neighborhood rejoiced in him, in the end he exposes all the members of the neighborhood; and likewise the members of the courtyard, and likewise the members of the alley, and likewise the members of the city, in the end he exposes all the members of the city, as it is said (Hosea 4:3): "Therefore the land mourns and all who dwell in it languish." For what reason? Because they did not rebuke Israel at all, as it is said (Hosea 4:4): "Yet let no man contend, and let no man rebuke." Even if a priest is found among them and laughs with them, he shares with them in the punishment; and likewise a prophet and a prince, as it is said (Hosea 4:5): "And your people are like those who contend with the priest, and you shall stumble this day, and the prophet also shall stumble with you." And likewise, whether among the nations or in Israel, whether man or woman, whether servant or maidservant. From here they said: Whoever increases the honor of Heaven and diminishes his own honor, the honor of Heaven is increased and his own honor too is increased; and whoever diminishes the honor of Heaven and increases his own honor, the honor of Heaven remains in its place and his own honor is diminished. An incident concerning a certain man who was standing, he and his son, in the synagogue, and all the people were answering "Amen" and "Hallelujah" after the one passing before the ark, and his son was answering with frivolous words, and his father said nothing to him. And people said to him that he should protest against his son, and he answered and said to them, What shall I do to him? He is a child; let him play. He did so again the next day, and throughout the days of the festival his son answered with frivolous words and his father said nothing to him. That year did not go out, nor the second, nor the third, until his wife and his sons and his grandson died, and fifteen souls went out from within his house, and there remained to him only two sons, one lame and blind and one foolish and wicked. Another incident concerning a certain man who would reproach himself that he had not read Scripture nor studied. Once I was standing, I and he, in the synagogue, and when the prayer leader reached the sanctification of the Name, that man raised his voice and answered after him in a loud voice the sanctification of the Name and said, "Holy, holy, holy." I said to him, My son, what did you see that you raised your voice so greatly? And he said to me, It is not enough that I have not read Scripture nor studied, but now that I have been given permission, let me raise my voice and let my soul find rest. They said: that year did not go out, nor the second, nor the third, until that man went up from Babylon to the Land of Israel; they arose and made him an official of the house of Caesar and appointed him over all the fortresses in the Land of Israel and gave him a place, and he built himself a house and dwelt in it all the days of his life and left to his sons and his sons' sons much wealth until the end of all generations. And another incident concerning a certain priest who fed his animal heave-offering, and fire fell upon him and consumed from his house thirty male animals and sixty garments and twenty-four jars of wine and ten jars of oil and much other wealth. And he came and sat before the Sages and said to them, My masters, fire fell upon me and consumed from me such and such animals, such and such wine, and such and such oil and other wealth that I had. The Sages brought grief and sighing into their hearts. They said: they did not move from there until a certain man who was not expert in law came, and he said to him, One who feeds his animal heave-offering, what is the law? He said to him, It is permitted. He said to him, Perhaps it is forbidden? He said to him, No. And he said to him, I am a priest and I fed my animal heave-offering. And when the Sages heard the matter, they all answered as one and said: Blessed is the Omnipresent, blessed is He, before whom there is no favoritism. For do not heave-offering and consecrated things that have no eaters go only to burning? Rather, you acted improperly. He said to them, But have we not learned: vetches of heave-offering may be fed to cattle and beasts and chickens? They said to him, They said this only of vetches, because they are food for cattle and only in years of famine do people eat them; therefore King David did not decree concerning them except in years of famine, because they are then human food. At that hour, from here they said: Whoever feeds his animal heave-offering, whether the heave-offering of the Land or the heave-offering of outside the Land, of him the verse says (Proverbs 19:16): "He who despises his ways shall die," and it says (Numbers 18:32): "And you shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, lest you die," and it says (Ecclesiastes 10:8): "He who digs a pit shall fall into it." From here they said: Let a person not teach Torah publicly unless he has read the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings and studied Mishnah and Midrash, as it is said (Psalms 106:2): "Who can utter the mighty deeds of the LORD, can declare all His praise?" Behold, it says (Ecclesiastes 7:14): "In the day of good be in good, and in the day of evil consider; God has made the one corresponding to the other, so that man should find nothing after him." And thus the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Adam: From the day I set you upon the face of the earth, do good deeds and save yourself from robbery and from the ugly thing. Therefore it is said, "In the day of good be in good, and in the day of evil consider" what you have done; therefore sufferings came upon you, for sufferings come upon a person only for his good, to bring out from his hand all that he sinned and did. Another interpretation: "In the day of good" — the Sages taught in the Mishnah: Do not despair of retribution; therefore it is said, "In the day of good be in good, and in the day of evil consider" the retribution of the wicked, who were lax in Torah and the commandments and go down to Gehinnom, as it is said (Isaiah 66:14, 24): "And you shall see, and your heart shall rejoice." Therefore it is said, "And in the day of evil consider." Behold, it says (Jeremiah 31:11): "For the LORD has redeemed Jacob and ransomed him from a hand stronger than he." Two brothers in one house, one harsher than his fellow; the harsh one is punished on account of his fellow. Therefore it is said, "For the LORD has redeemed," and so forth. Another interpretation: "For the LORD has redeemed Jacob," and so forth, of two Torah scholars, one harsher than his fellow, as we said. Another interpretation: of two partners in one business, one in the field and one in the labor, and one of them is harsher than his fellow; the harsh one is punished on account of his fellow. Therefore it is said, "For the LORD has redeemed," and so forth. Another interpretation: "For the LORD has redeemed Jacob" — one who has two wives, for one he fulfills her food, clothing, and conjugal rights, and for one he does not fulfill them; great is the punishment there. And whoever does not acknowledge these matters and does not desire reproof, of him the verse says (Proverbs 28:9): "He who turns away his ear from hearing the Torah." And the Sages taught in the Mishnah: Whoever profanes the Name of Heaven in secret, they exact payment from him in public, whether unwitting or deliberate in profanation of the Name. Similarly you say (Psalms 133:1): "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together." When the Holy One, blessed be He, spoke with Moses, father of the wise and father of the prophets, to redeem Israel, he ought not to have refused the mission of the Omnipresent; nevertheless the Holy One, blessed be He, spoke with him only in a language of joy, as it is said (Exodus 4:14): "Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and he will see you and rejoice in his heart." And are these things not a matter of all the more so? If Moses, the wisest of the great wise ones and father of the prophets, who ought not to have refused the mission of the Omnipresent, was nevertheless spoken to by the Holy One, blessed be He, only with joy — Aaron his brother, who intended and made peace between Israel and their Father in heaven, and between Israel and Israel, and between Israel and the sage, and between sage and sage, and between a person and his fellow, and between a man and his wife, all the more so was the Holy One, blessed be He, speaking with him in joy. Concerning them He says, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together." Another interpretation: "Behold, how good," and so forth: a person did good deeds in his youth and grew old and doubled his deeds for good; of him He says, "Behold, how good." Another interpretation: a person read the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings in his youth and grew old and doubled his deeds and studied Mishnah and Midrash, laws and aggadot; of him He says, "Behold, how good and how pleasant." Another interpretation: if one sits and studies with his fellow, of them He says, "Behold, how good." Another interpretation: two brothers in one house who read and study with one another and rejoice with one another and eat and drink with one another, of them He says, "Behold, how good." And in the future the Holy One, blessed be He, will sit in His great house of study and the righteous will sit before Him, and He will say to them: I am He for whom you were given over to death, and I am He for whom you were slain; therefore you shall be like Me — just as I live and endure forever and ever, so shall you live and endure forever and ever, as it is said (Isaiah 33:17): "Your eyes shall behold the King in His beauty; they shall see a far-off land." What is "they shall see a far-off land"? These are the laws that were in the mind of the Holy One, blessed be He, nine hundred and seventy-four generations before the world was created, and He spoke them to them, to Israel. And it says (Malachi 1:5): "And your eyes shall see, and you shall say, The LORD be magnified beyond the border of Israel." "Your eyes shall see" — this is the attribute of justice upon the nations; "and you shall say, The LORD be magnified beyond the border of Israel." Thus the Holy One, blessed be He, says to Israel: My children, read the Scripture and increase it, and study the Mishnah and increase it, until I Myself come and tell you of the impure that it is impure and of the pure that it is pure, of the pure in its place and of the impure in its place, as it is said (Hosea 10:12): "Sow for yourselves in righteousness, reap according to lovingkindness... until He comes and teaches righteousness to you."